Many biologically important compounds lose activity if exposed to heat, water and/or oxygen. Such compounds include vitamins, herbal remedies, antioxidants, carotenoids, polyphenols, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, enzymes, probiotics analgesics, anticholinergics, antihistamines, anti-inflammatories, antipyretics, antitussives, antivirals, decongestants, expectorants, mucolytics, and prebiotics. Numerous attempts have been made in an effort to stabilize these compounds so that the activity of the compounds is maintained over longer periods of time upon exposure to heat, water and/or oxygen. Certain of these methods have focused on coating of the compounds with a protective material, including gelatin and alginate. Protecting the compounds against degradation is not the only concern, however. The protected compounds must also be available for biological absorption upon oral ingestion. These two purposes are inherently conflicting in that known methods of protection of the compounds during processing and storage have also limited or prevented absorption of the compounds so that less of the biologically important compound is effectively delivered to the ingesting mammal.
The only reliable option to be able to deliver the compounds is to over-formulate the labile components that are included in the composition. This over-formulation adds unnecessary expense and does not guarantee product performance. In the case of a tablet or capsule with low level components, the tablet weight is very high relative to the amount of low-level active labile ingredients. This presents a problem in that it is difficult to uniformly disperse the minor actives in the massive tablet or capsule.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a composition and method of stabilizing sensitive ingredients, preferably via a pregelatinized starch, in which all of the sensitive ingredients in a composition are stable and maintain the sensitive ingredients activity in the presence of heat, water and/or oxygen, are still available for biological absorption upon oral ingestion, and are evenly distributed throughout the pregelatinized starch.